The effects of a multiyear universal social-emotional learning program: The role of student and school characteristics.

OBJECTIVE This article examines the impact of a universal social-emotional learning program, the Fast Track PATHS (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) curriculum and teacher consultation, embedded within the Fast Track selective prevention model. METHOD The longitudinal analysis involved 2,937 children of multiple ethnicities who remained in the same intervention or control schools for Grades 1, 2, and 3. The study involved a clustered randomized controlled trial involving sets of schools randomized within 3 U.S. locations. Measures assessed teacher and peer reports of aggression, hyperactive-disruptive behaviors, and social competence. Beginning in first grade and through 3 successive years, teachers received training and support and implemented the PATHS curriculum in their classrooms. RESULTS The study examined the main effects of intervention as well as how outcomes were affected by characteristics of the child (baseline level of problem behavior, gender) and by the school environment (student poverty). Modest positive effects of sustained program exposure included reduced aggression and increased prosocial behavior (according to both teacher and peer report) and improved academic engagement (according to teacher report). Peer report effects were moderated by gender, with significant effects only for boys. Most intervention effects were moderated by school environment, with effects stronger in less disadvantaged schools, and effects on aggression were larger in students who showed higher baseline levels of aggression. CONCLUSIONS A major implication of the findings is that well-implemented multiyear social-emotional learning programs can have significant and meaningful preventive effects on the population-level rates of aggression, social competence, and academic engagement in the elementary school years.

[1]  T. Moffitt.  Adolescence-limited and life-course-persistent antisocial behavior: a developmental taxonomy. , 1993, Psychological review.

[2]  K. Dodge,et al.  The relation between behavior problems and peer preference in different classroom contexts. Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. , 1999, Child development.

[3]  R. Loeber.  Development and risk factors of juvenile antisocial behavior and delinquency. , 1990 .

[4]  F P Rivara,et al.  Effectiveness of a violence prevention curriculum among children in elementary school. A randomized controlled trial. , 1997, JAMA.

[5]  Jennifer Spaeth,et al.  Task Force on Community Preventive Services , 2009 .

[6]  Susanne A. Denham,et al.  Children's social problem-solving skills, behavioral adjustment, and interventions: A meta-analysis evaluating theory and practice☆ , 1987 .

[7]  R. Abbott,et al.  Preventing school failure, drug use, and delinquency among low-income children: long-term intervention in elementary schools. , 1995, The American journal of orthopsychiatry.

[8]  S. Kellam,et al.  Effect of first-grade classroom environment on shy behavior, aggressive behavior, and concentration problems , 1991, American journal of community psychology.

[9]  Mark T. Greenberg,et al.  Promoting Social and Emotional Development in Deaf Children: The Paths Project , 1993 .

[10]  J. Lochman,et al.  Classroom environment influences on aggression, peer relations, and academic focus , 2004 .

[11]  M. Greenberg,et al.  Social skills training in the Fast Track Program. , 1996 .

[12]  R. Liberman,et al.  Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders: Frontiers for Preventive Intervention Research , 1998 .

[13]  Michael Rutter,et al.  School Effects on Pupil Progress: Research Findings and Policy Implications. , 1983 .

[14]  L. Eron,et al.  A cognitive-ecological approach to preventing aggression in urban settings: Initial outcomes for high risk children , 2002 .

[15]  L. Eron,et al.  A cognitive-ecological approach to preventing aggression in urban settings: initial outcomes for high-risk children. , 2002, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[16]  P. Cuijpers.  Examining the effects of prevention programs on the incidence of new cases of mental disorders: the lack of statistical power. , 2003, The American journal of psychiatry.

[17]  J. Lochman.  Screening of child behavior problems for prevention programs at school entry. The Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. , 1995, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[18]  P. Emmelkamp,et al.  Effectiveness of behavioral parent training for children with ADHD in routine clinical practice: a randomized controlled study. , 2007, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[19]  R. Weissberg,et al.  Social competence promotion with inner-city and suburban young adolescents: effects on social adjustment and alcohol use. , 1992, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[20]  K. Bierman,et al.  Early disruptive behaviors associated with emerging antisocial behavior among girls , 2004 .

[21]  M. Greenberg,et al.  Emotional regulation, self-control, and psychopathology: The role of relationships in early childhood. , 1991 .

[22]  J. Snyder.  Reinforcement and coercion mechanisms in the development of antisocial behavior: Peer relationships. , 2002 .

[23]  Joseph E. Zins,et al.  Social and Emotional Learning. , 2006 .

[24]  B. Flay,et al.  The Relation of Perceived Neighborhood Danger to Childhood Aggression: A Test of Mediating Mechanisms , 2000, American journal of community psychology.

[25]  V. Battistich,et al.  Effects of an elementary school program to enhance prosocial behavior on children's cognitive-social problem-solving skills and strategies , 1989 .

[26]  M. Elias.  Primary prevention as health and social competence promotion , 1995, Journal of Primary Prevention.

[27]  T. Achenbach,et al.  Manual for the Teacher's Report Form and 1991 Profile , 1991 .

[28]  R. Weissberg,et al.  A new conceptual framework for establishing school-based social competence promotion programs. , 1989 .

[29]  George W. Rebok,et al.  The short-term impact of two classroom-based preventive interventions on aggressive and shy behaviors and poor achievement , 1993 .

[30]  J. Hughes,et al.  Adverse school context moderates the outcomes of selective interventions for aggressive children. , 2005, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[31]  V. Mcloyd,et al.  Socioeconomic disadvantage and child development. , 1998, The American psychologist.

[32]  R. McMahon,et al.  Family-Based Intervention in the Fast Track Program , 1996 .

[33]  Friedrich Lösel,et al.  Effects of training social competence in children: A meta-analysis of recent evaluation studies , 1994 .

[34]  C. Kam,et al.  Examining the Role of Implementation Quality in School-Based Prevention Using the PATHS Curriculum , 2003, Prevention Science.

[35]  Joseph E. Zins,et al.  Enhancing school-based prevention and youth development through coordinated social, emotional, and academic learning. , 2003, The American psychologist.

[36]  M. Greenberg,et al.  The Mediational Role of Neurocognition in the Behavioral Outcomes of a Social-Emotional Prevention Program in Elementary School Students: Effects of the PATHS Curriculum , 2006, Prevention Science.

[37]  M. Greenberg,et al.  Promoting emotional competence in school-aged children: The effects of the PATHS curriculum , 1995, Development and Psychopathology.

[38]  J. Aber,et al.  Resolving conflict creatively: Evaluating the developmental effects of a school-based violence prevention program in neighborhood and classroom context , 1998, Development and Psychopathology.

[39]  K. Dodge,et al.  Merging universal and indicated prevention programs: the Fast Track model. Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. , 2000, Addictive behaviors.

[40]  K. Bierman.  Evaluation of the First 3 Years of the Fast Track Prevention Trial with Children at High Risk for Adolescent Conduct Problems , 2002, Journal of abnormal child psychology.

[41]  Kenneth A Dodge,et al.  A biopsychosocial model of the development of chronic conduct problems in adolescence. , 2003, Developmental psychology.

[42]  K. Dodge,et al.  Fast track randomized controlled trial to prevent externalizing psychiatric disorders: findings from grades 3 to 9. , 2007, Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.

[43]  Patricia J. Mrazek,et al.  Reducing risks for mental disorders: Frontiers for preventive intervention research. , 1994 .

[44]  A. Kazdin.  Treatment of conduct disorder: Progress and directions in psychotherapy research , 1993, Development and Psychopathology.

[45]  R. Hahn,et al.  Effectiveness of universal school-based programs to prevent violent and aggressive behavior: a systematic review. , 2007, American journal of preventive medicine.

[46]  George W. Rebok,et al.  Building developmental and etiological theory through epidemiologically based preventive intervention trials. , 1992 .

[47]  K. Dodge,et al.  Individual-group behavioral similarity and peer status in experimental play groups of boys: the social misfit revisited. , 1995, Journal of personality and social psychology.

[48]  J. Lochman.  Screening of child behavior problems for prevention programs at school entry. , 1995 .

[49]  C. Kusché,et al.  Preventive intervention for school-age deaf children: the PATHS curriculum. , 1998, Journal of deaf studies and deaf education.

[50]  Allison B. Dymnicki,et al.  The impact of enhancing students' social and emotional learning: a meta-analysis of school-based universal interventions. , 2011, Child development.

[51]  C. Brown,et al.  The effect of the level of aggression in the first grade classroom on the course and malleability of aggressive behavior into middle school , 1998, Development and Psychopathology.

[52]  K. Dodge,et al.  The Effects of the Fast Track Program on Serious Problem Outcomes at the End of Elementary School , 2004, Journal of clinical child and adolescent psychology : the official journal for the Society of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, American Psychological Association, Division 53.

[53]  M. Greenberg,et al.  The PATHS Curriculum , 2011 .

[54]  K. Dodge,et al.  Initial impact of the Fast Track prevention trial for conduct problems: I. The high-risk sample. Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. , 1999, Journal of consulting and clinical psychology.

[55]  Friedrich Lösel,et al.  Effects of Child Skills Training in Preventing Antisocial Behavior: A Systematic Review of Randomized Evaluations , 2003 .